Currently, in the marketplace, there are available a wide variety of carts and trucks utilized to carry heavy materials and supplies from one point to another. These carts and trucks are mainly utilized in order to ease the physical stress placed upon a person when transporting heavy and large materials, usually by placing such materials upon some sort of loading area supported by a plurality of wheels.
In reviewing the prior art, various hand carts and trucks are disclosed which are utilized to reduce the physical strain in transporting materials. For example, the Barley, U.S. Pat. No. 454,448 discloses a barrel rack and truck which have rollers which provide mobility and they also have a rounded end that allows it to tilt and easily mount a barrel to the rack and truck. Similarly, the Maxim, U.S. Pat. No. 753,284 discloses an electrically-propelled vehicle that is suited to carry baggage or other such loads, and is battery powered. This vehicle has a horizontal base or platform mounted and supported upon an axle and driving wheels.
In another prior art patent, Russel U.S. Pat. No. 1,103,689 discloses a truck for milk cans where one truck may be attached to top of another truck, thus allowing two layers of milk cans to be transported in a single journey. This truck has a rectangular platform atop four wheels with sections of pipe forming the sides bars and the ends of a frame surrounding the outside of the platform. The milk cans are placed within this frame during transport.
The Black U.S. Pat. No. 2,027,265 discloses a truck adapted to hold a single barrel or other round objects with castor wheels and a handle. The frame is of rectangular configuration and also has side bars and end bars shaped to conform to the contours of a barrel.
The McCoy U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,383 discloses a vehicle for loading and unloading cylindrical containers containing a mechanized hoist for the containers. The truck is comprised of a base with a cradle adapted to retain cylindrical objects for transport. The Knoll U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,667 discloses a wheelbarrow having compartments for removably securing individual circular buckets that may be loaded with different bulk materials.
The prior art also shows various hand trucks and carts are combined with a scale in order to determine weight of the material as well as to ease its transport. For example, the Sawyer U.S. Pat. No. 656,729 discloses a cart with a scale incorporated therein. This scale is functional when the truck is in a horizontal position as well as positions varying from horizontal by as much as 45° and the hand truck consists of a truck frame having side rails and cross bars furnished with a pair wheels. Similarly, the Bricker U.S. Pat. No. 884,459 discloses a hand truck that has a scale and a removable bag holder incorporated into it. This hand truck comprises a tubular column for a frame, a pair of wheels, and a scale platform secured to the frame. While the Walding U.S. Pat. No. 2,659,591, discloses a push cart with a weight indicator and a basket that is particularly suited to weigh clothes, the Handford U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,137 B1 discloses a portable scale having a triangular scale deck, three load cells, an electronic controller, and dolly-type wheels.
The prior art also reveals various carts and trucks that facilitate transport by utilizing a motor to turn the wheels of a cart or truck. In Schreck, U.S. Pat. No. 2,209,356, a hand operated motorized truck suited to lift loaded skids into warehouses and factories is disclosed; it also discloses a motorized truck with compact steering and propelling unit that may be easily stopped and started.
The Boza U.S. Des. Pat. No. 153,255 discloses a cart having one wheel adjacent its handles, two wheels near its mid-section, and a motorized axle driving the two middle wheels, as well as a platform with vertical members.
The Montana U.S. Pat. No. 2,740,484 discloses a motor driven stair climbing hand cart which includes parallel transverse shafts on the truck frame. The cart is intended to transport a load placed upon its foot plate while is rolled up ramps or stairs by a set of motorized traction wheels.
The Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 3,312,300 discloses a power operated utility cart having three wheels which may be configured to hold baskets, golf clubs, or warehouse items. Similarly, the Bruske U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,455 discloses a self propelled three wheel maintenance cart which is battery propelled and has a high tailgate that can also be used as a ramp, while the U.S. Lovell Pat. No. 4,081,047 discloses a small three-wheeled motorized cart which may be used to carry golf clubs, groceries, or children, where a break is automatically activated when the cart is stopped, and a separate break keeps it from going downhill.
The Seider U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,983 discloses an electrically powered food service vehicle with electrically powered warming areas and electrical propulsion that is utilized to transport food serving trays while maintaining the food at a desired temperature.
The Rabjohn U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,546 discloses a traction drive with a self-contained power pack for small vehicles which can be connected to one or all of the wheels on a cart to add electrical power to a cart.
The Carter U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,696 discloses a three wheeled collapsible battery operated cart for golf clubs having a removable club storage rack which is adapted to hold different types of golf clubs.
The Hooley U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,290 discloses a shopping cart with a signaling system which detects the presence or absence of a load placed on the lower tray of the cart, which is particularly useful in alerting clerks to the presence of forgotten merchandise on the lower tray.
The Moist U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,790 discloses a powered cart, preferably gasoline powered, adapted to fit between rows of crops to carry materials to replace heavy parts of irrigation rigs.
The Meshulam U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,758 discloses a motorized cart capable for carrying palates or boxes over rough terrain and steep hills, such as the type of terrain avocados or citrus are grown.
The Scott U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,568 discloses a self-propelled hand truck having a driven wheel, a nondriven wheel, a drive train, motor and transmission secured to the frame. This hand truck can operate in a self-propelled mode or in a conventional operator-propelled mode.
The Campbell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,328 discloses an electric powered handcart having a frame, a pair of frame brackets, a load plate, a handle, a set of wheels with a third wheel positioned above and behind the set, and an electric motor and battery mounted attached to the frame.
The Sueshige et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,166 discloses a four-wheeled electromotive cart and a direct axle driving mechanism for driving the axle of left and right front wheels with a motor.
The Kratzenberg et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,471 B1 discloses a delivery cart having a control unit which controls power supplied to the motors. The control unit provides an electronic computer and free programmable memory used for actuating the motors attached to the support wheels.
The Eberlein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,665 B1 discloses a hand-movable cart having a motor, a drive chassis with four casters and a power source located within a space not required by the pushcart during use.
The Hopper et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,224 B2 discloses a wheeled carriage for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position. The wheeled carriage provides a patient support mounted on a wheeled base, an auxiliary wheel support system and a control apparatus for controlling the auxiliary wheel support system.
The Van Seumeren U.S. Pat. No. 6,855,894 B1 discloses a mobile lifting device having a mobile frame with a set of lift forks. The mobile lifting device will also have a weighing device that provides a display panel and a pressure or strain-sensitive sensor.
The Holtan et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,652 B2 discloses a shopping cart transporter for use in parking lots. The device utilizes a cable that is retractably mounted on the base and stretches to surround the line of shopping carts to be pulled by a hand operated motor-driven base.
The Kime et al. U.S. Publication No. 2004/134,692 A1 discloses a freestanding self-propelled device for moving objects. The self-propelled device has a chassis with lower frame portions and upright frame portions. A single drive wheel is located between sets of support wheels coupled to the lower frame portion of the chassis.
The Coale U.S. Publication No. 2004/216,933 A1 discloses an electric vehicle having four wheels attached to a framework and body structure containing a vehicle motion control devices, a system for camping gear storage containers, and an electric motor and photovoltaic panels for recharging the batteries. The device is especially adapted for transporting camping gear over rough terrain.
The David et al. U.S. Publication No. 2005/39,957 A1 discloses a pedestrian truck with a drive motor and a handle lever that includes a head and a rod.
The Chambers U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,213 B2 discloses a hand truck powered by an electric motor having a power source, a programmable motor controller and a transaxle.
The Waid U.S. Pat. No. 7,210,545 B1 discloses a three-wheel motorized cart for transporting beach related items over sandy terrain. The cart has a cargo frame, a platform, a steering and control handle attached to the rear of the cargo frame, and an electric motor with a control assembly.
The Hemsley U.S. Publication No. 2007/131,462 A1 discloses a control apparatus for an article such as suitcase with motorized wheels. The control apparatus has transducers to sense force applied to the handle pushing or pulling the suitcase and control units connected to each transducer for controlling the speed and rotation of each motorized wheel.
The prior art further reveals various carts and trucks that are used to facilitate the transport of five-gallon water bottles. The Hettman U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,969 discloses a bottle chemical handling system with a cart having shelves arranged at compound angles which allows chemicals to be stored in positions which eliminate rolling and/or keeps the chemicals away from the neck of the bottles.
The Sheets U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,135 discloses a bottled water carrier that is configured to easily allow an operator to wheel as many as five bottles of water at one time. Similarly, the Hailston U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,527 discloses a two-wheeled hand truck having a frame made from a pair of horizontally spaced, vertically extending side rails, connected by crosswise braces laterally. This hand truck has withdrawable support platforms or trays for supporting one or more large, 5-gallon bottled type water containers on its sides.
The Spath Pat. No. 5,846,043 discloses a cart and caddie system for storing and transporting standard, multi-gallon water bottles. The cart has a lower deck for depleted water bottles and an upper roller deck for filled water bottles having an outlet end. The caddie, which is removably attached to the cart, provides a swivelled cradle where a filled water bottle is transferred from the upper roller deck of the cart, to a positioned adjacent a water dispenser.
The Luberda Pat. No. 6,247,710 B1 discloses a detachable bottle carrier for a two-wheel hand truck. The bottle carrier provides a frame having a projecting platform and a bottle girth enveloping element.
The Berthiaume et al. Pat. No. 6,302,414 B1 discloses a hand truck fitted with a tray configured to support bottled water containers on the main frame of the truck with a pair of upright end supports.
The Chriswell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,168,599 B1 discloses a water-handling system where a hand truck is configured to carry a water bottle on a platform which is transported to a dispensing cabinet which the hand truck engages and locks into the cabinet.
The Stoneback et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,257 B2 discloses a cargo hand truck system with a cradle assembly having a pair of support rails with upper and lower portions and a cross bar spanning the support rails for carrying cylindrical containers.
Thus, nowhere in the prior is seen a motorized hand truck comprising of a multi functional electronic control panel, a motor/engine with auto brake and gear system, a horn, dual joined handle, and removable frames adapted to retain as many as 16 to 24, five-gallon cylindrical water containers.